Mike Saccone, spokesman for the attorney general's office, says the office hopes this will be the first of many such convictions. Most other instances in which a person has been arrested for human trafficking have resulted in plea deals in which the accused pleads guilty to a lesser charge, he says. In this case, the attorney general's office took the case to trial -- and won. "It shows that the statute can effectively be prosecuted in court and put to a jury," Saccone says.
The statute defines human trafficking as selling, exchanging, bartering or leasing a person for money. Cardenas was convicted of forcing the two females to pose for sexually explicit photos, which he posted on Craigslist. The females were instructed to charge $150 for a half-hour and $175 for an hour for "out-calls" to hotels in Denver and Lakewood.
Read Cardenas's indictment below, as well as the indictment of his co-defendant Ryan Jenkins. Jenkins, 24, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor pandering for inducing a child to perform prostitution.
More from our Colorado Crimes archives: "Christian & Theresa Laswell: Was Christian a pimp of child prostitutes or an escort driver?"
